Benjamin's 57g Rimless Reef

[Scubafrog]

Great looking tank so far!

 

[mrbee2828]

Doing a quick unboxing of the equipment that's been laying around my house for months to do a quick fit. I picked up a used Aquamxx calcium reactor as well which is a hang on design and it will rest over the return I think.

 

[mrbee2828]

I cobbled together a scaffolding this morning to hold the canopy frame while I got it level and square and marked the wall. This wouldn't have worked out with an extra set of hands and I would have freaked out about it slipping. I wasn't sure if this canopy was going to work out so my backup plan was to hang a smaller one. The frame is held up with lag bolts through the wall inside the linen closet. I cut a scrap piece of hard oak plywood and had a series of washers behind the bolts. After removing the scaffolding, I was pretty sure I could do pull ups on it. I'm pretty excited that it worked out.

 

[mrbee2828]

Oh, I also got my polish and buffing supplies in the mail last week. I've cleaned up the sump and it looks flawless now aside from my rookie seam welds

 

[hatfielj]

Awesome! I would consider putting a cable support in the ceiling on the far side of that canopy. It would prevent canopy from drooping down on that side when weight is applied.

 

[ifarmer]

very nice. the 57g is a good size reef tank.

 

[mrbee2828]

Awesome! I would consider putting a cable support in the ceiling on the far side of that canopy. It would prevent canopy from drooping down on that side when weight is applied.

It's a future back up plan for sure but it's a rock a the moment. Only time will tell!

 

[mrbee2828]

I also got this out of the way yesterday. These are flexible wall plates from Home Depot. Using these for a clean pass through for the ATO and the CO2 lines from the closet.

 

[mrbee2828]

I had a productive weekend, mounting under cabinet LEDs, mocking water lines and the like. Rough plumbing here on the herbie and return. I'm missing a few parts to cap it off. Red is drain, blue is return. I'm trying some different stuff on this build. You can get furniture grade colored PVC at BRS, Tap etc online. However, I tried to do this custom with Rekhaoil dye and PVC cleaner. It looks "ok" but if you want a really pro look I'd spend the money on the real stuff. I'm also trying to hid the lines from sight by placing panels painted with the wall color on the glass. It didn't work out as planned and ended up looking worse than the pipes with the shadows on the wall.

 

[mrbee2828]

I decided to bite the bullet and just paint the back of the tank today with the wall color. It looks a bit better in person but the green in the glass throws it off some. I'll live with it, small detail I guess. Once the LEDs are in place it will look different so we'll see what happens. I glued all the piping up as well and got the rock in place.

I'm not happy with the middle section and plan to rework it over the coming days but overall I'm very happy with it. It's almost what I envisioned almost 2 years ago if you look at my sketch on page 1. The rock at the end of the tank is like a large piece of cauliflower with a stem on the bottom. It should make great cover for gobies, shrimp and the like. I've got about 45gs in now and plan on breaking down the coral QT tank I have had up for weeks, moving that coral to my troughs and then using the remaining water to fill this up. Between the liverock and old water, the cycle should be short if anything at all.

 

[Jimbo662]

I think my next tank is going to have to be a penninsul build. I love all the access you're going to have under the tank. Also can't wait to see how the canopy turns out!

 

[mrbee2828]

I finally hooked up the Smart ATO for the office. Looks like I'll be burning 1.5g or less a day so far. The ATO is awesome, hands down the best one I've used so far out of the Hydor, DIY kits and even the old gravity fed float. It's compact, includes a super small pump and has a large 3/8" feed line.

 

[mrbee2828]

I added a vanderbilt a few weeks ago and he did fine so I've added just about all my fish and inverts that I had in QT at this point. Yellow eye kole, vanderbilts, cardinals, hawk and some shrimp. I have a new and paired clowns to move over but I can't until the lights are up so that's the focus right now. I got started this weekend. Remember it's a skin for the steel structure I showed earlier in the build. Before anyone new asks, yes it's secure. You can do pull ups on it

 

[ReeferRookie]

Coming along beautifully

 

[mrbee2828]

Quick test fit. Just about done but decided to add a cut out for an auto feeder to get it up and out of the way. Just need to finish the trim around the LEDs, start painting it and get the wires run in the wall this weekend. It's taller than I originally planned by 2" but the reasoning was because I didn't want the width of the trim to overpower the center recess at just 2". I didn't want to make the trim thinner because this will match the stand and it would look too small on the stand. I'm pretty excited to add my clown/nem trip and some coral next week!

 

[mrbee2828]

I wrapped up the canopy this weekend with a coat of kills and 3 coats of piano black. I added plates for the wires in the wall, ran everything and got it all programmed this evening. I'm moving my anemone and clowns over tomorrow morning. I'm beyond happy with the way this turned out.

 

[mrbee2828]

I moved my rainbow anemone and clown pair that I have had for several years over to the tank today. It's attracted to a cave at the top center and I can only hope it decides to stay there. It could stay for a day or a year, who knows. They have a mind of their own. I'm having a heck of a time programming the radions though. Yesterday I fiddled with them for a bit and programming through reeflink seemed like a no brainer. Today it's giving connection errors and retrying several times to connect to the lights if it does at all. Reeflink is like an anemone I guess

 

[ethridge78]

Beautiful tank

 

[mrbee2828]

I started adding some coral today. I pulled about 10 piece from the grow out trough to try most everything. So far I added a wire, wall, some cans, blue digi, setosa, a trach, purple stylo, 2 stags and a scoly. I'll probably dose by hand for another week or 2 until I can get a new pump for my calcium reactor.

 

[mrbee2828]

Just some cell pictures to prove this is still running. No real progress on the build, I'm still recovering from hosting MAMAX and fall softball.